Author: Elizabeth Blessing
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AT&T is sending data-throttling refunds by Zelle to customers who never cashed the first check
If you were an AT&T customer with an unlimited data plan years ago, the government may still owe you money, and it is trying again to get it to you. The Federal Trade Commission is now sending refunds by Zelle to former AT&T customers who were mailed a check earlier but never cashed it. No…
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Adding beneficiaries or account types can insure well beyond $250,000 at one bank
A lot of savers believe the FDIC only protects $250,000 at any one bank, so anyone with more must spread it across several institutions. That is a misunderstanding that can cost convenience and, occasionally, money. The $250,000 limit applies per ownership category, not per person per bank, which means a household can often insure far…
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Misclassifying employees as contractors can leave a company owing back overtime, the Labor Department says
Getting a 1099 instead of a W-2 does not automatically make someone an independent contractor, and the difference is worth real money. When a company wrongly labels an employee as a contractor, the Labor Department says the worker may be owed back overtime, minimum wage, and other protections they were denied. For a lot of…
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Most hourly workers are owed time-and-a-half after 40 hours in a week under federal law
Under federal law, most hourly workers who put in more than 40 hours in a week are owed extra pay, and plenty never collect it. Non-exempt employees must be paid time-and-a-half for those overtime hours, one of the oldest worker protections on the books and also one of the most commonly shortchanged. Knowing the rule…
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The federal minimum wage has not risen from $7.25 an hour since 2009
It is one of the most stubborn numbers in American economic life: $7.25 an hour. That has been the federal minimum wage since July 2009, the longest the country has ever gone without raising it. For workers in states that follow the federal floor, more than sixteen years of inflation have quietly eaten away at…
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Credit card interest now averages about 22%, and late payments just hit a 15-year high
The math on carrying a credit card balance has quietly turned brutal. The average interest rate on cards that carry a balance now sits around 22%, and Americans are falling behind at the fastest pace in fifteen years. Together those two facts describe a squeeze that is hitting fixed-income households especially hard, and they also…
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The $6,000 senior deduction Trump signed fades above $75,000 and disappears after 2028
A new tax break for older Americans has been widely, and wrongly, described as the end of taxes on Social Security. What the law actually created is narrower: a temporary $6,000 deduction for people 65 and older that starts shrinking once income passes $75,000 and expires entirely after 2028. Understanding the real shape of it…
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Social Security must be paid back for the month a person dies, even if the check already arrived
It is one of the most jarring surprises a grieving family runs into: Social Security asks for a payment back. A person who dies is not entitled to a benefit for the month of death, so if a check or direct deposit for that month has already landed, it has to be returned. The rule…
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Humana’s Medicare Advantage non-renewal letters reach about 600,000 members this September
If you have a Humana Medicare Advantage plan, watch your mailbox this month. Humana is not renewing a batch of plans for 2027 that together cover roughly 600,000 members, and the notices telling people their coverage is ending go out in September. For an affected household, the letter is not junk mail to toss; it…
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Laid-off workers may still qualify for unemployment even after turning down a severance offer
Losing a job is hard enough without a second worry piled on top: the fear that saying no to a severance package, or taking one, will quietly cancel any unemployment benefits. It is a common assumption, and for most laid-off workers it is wrong. Turning down a severance offer does not, by itself, disqualify someone…
